Jail Statistics in America

The U.S. Department of Justice has many duties, one of which is keeping track of jail statistics in the United States. Jails hold inmates awaiting trial and sentenced inmates for up to one year. Some interesting jail stats:

In 2008, there were 258 our of every 100,000 people in jail.

Almost 90% of inmates in jail is male.

During the past 18 years, the number of black inmates has grown by 3.3%. White inmates grew by 3.8% and Hispanic inmates grew by 4.5%.